The pace of change in the medical device industry is unprecedented. Under the new administration, the fate of the medical device excise tax and the FDA remains unclear. Merger mania shows no signs of abating--nor does the steady stream of tech and other non-traditional health care companies entering the space. Big data and increased cybersecurity risks remain top of mind for device makers, as well as patients and providers. What's more, these challenges are just the tip of a very big iceberg.

Amid all this uncertainty, however, the outlook for medical devices is surprisingly bright. Investing News predicts that device manufacturers will capture major market share in 2017. Equally reassuring, Evaluate Research forecasts that medical technology sales will reach more than $529.8 billion by 2022, growing at an annual rate of 5.2 percent, and R&D expenditure will grow by 4.3 percent annually to reach $34 billion by 2022.

In this white paper, medical device experts Matt Lowe and Alex Butler discussed five trends that are likely to have a significant effect on the industry this year.